gov. Newsom plans to convert Sacramento office buildings into housing

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a plan to convert three adjoining office buildings along the Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento, including the Employment Development Department headquarters, into “affordable transit-oriented housing.” Assemblymember Kevin McCarty said in a press conference later with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela that at least 20% of the housing would be set aside as affordable. “This should not be the first nor the last one of these projects,” McCarty said. California’s Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of General Services will seek out developers to redevelop these three sites: EDD’s headquarters at 800 Capitol Mall, the EDD Solar Building at 751 N Street and the State Personnel Board Building at 801 Capitol Mall. Newsom said the move is in keeping with a 2019 excess land executive order as part of a “multipronged approach to tackle the housing crisis in California, which includes greater accountability, streamlining the building process and providing incentives along with unprecedented resources to communities willing to step -up and meet their housing commitments.”The plan to convert the buildings would take place after the current tenants relocate to new facilities in 2025. In a statement, Department of General Services Director Ana Lasso said the state’s hybrid work model means converting the buildings wants “breathe new life into state office buildings and the Sacramento downtown in particular.” A department-commissioned study said EDD’s headquarters could be converted to nearly 400 one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes for lower-income households.About 1,000 units could be expected across all three buildings from affordable to market rate, Steinberg said. Steinberg, who last year repeatedly called for the return of state workers to downtown because of their impact on local businesses, on Tuesday said that he’s focused now on trying to get workers back “at least a couple of days a week.” “The world changed in 2020 with COVID and one of the realities that we have to face is that people are choosing to work from home more than not now,” Steinberg said. He said part of the answer to transforming Sacramento was to focus on housing, food and entertainment. Valenzuela compared downtown Sacramento to midtown, saying that more housing could help make downtown more vibrant as a “24/7 community.” Developers who are eventually chosen for the project would get a long-term ground lease to build, own and manage the housing they develop.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a plan to convert three adjoining office buildings along the Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento, including the Employment Development Department headquarters, into “affordable transit-oriented housing.”

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty said in a press conference later with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela that at least 20% of the housing would be set aside as affordable.

California’s Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of General Services will seek out developers to redevelop these three sites: EDD’s headquarters at 800 Capitol Mall, the EDD Solar Building at 751 N Street and the State Personnel Board Building at 801 Capitol Mall.

Newsom said the move is in keeping with a 2019 excess land executive order as part of a “multipronged approach to tackle the housing crisis in California, which includes greater accountability, streamlining the building process and providing incentives along with unprecedented resources to communities willing to step -up and meet their housing commitments.”

The plan to convert the buildings would take place after the current tenants relocate to new facilities in 2025.

In a statement, Department of General Services Director Ana Lasso said the state’s hybrid work model means converting the buildings will “breathe new life into state office buildings and the Sacramento downtown in particular.”

A department-commissioned study said EDD’s headquarters could be converted to nearly 400 one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes for lower-income households.

“The size and location of these three Capitol Mall buildings give us the opportunity to create a transit-friendly village with hundreds of new housing units – a project that will speed the evolution of our downtown away from reliance on office workers,” Steinberg said in a statement. “We will work with the state, our development partners, and the community around Capitol Mall to create something that truly enhances our city’s front door.”

Developers who are eventually chosen for the project would get a long-term ground lease to build, own and manage the housing they develop.

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